Hello, all! Summer is winding down which means sleepless nights due to insane heat will soon be replaced by sleepless nights due to insane work. I hope you've all gotten your fill of beaches, hammocks and mojitos (but I think we can all agree, enough is never enough).
My summer as a tanned, jobless bum ended a few weeks ago when I was hired by the nice people at Great Lakes Life magazine. I do a lot of different tasks there, but by far the most enjoyable thing is illustration, and here is the first published image I've done for them (and their first illustrated cover, ever). This is the cover for their annual food and wine issue and I was asked to have a wine bottle and have something growing out of it, while having a psychedelic feel. Artists they gave as examples were Romero Britto and Peter Max. The only real guidelines I was forced to follow were image size and room needed to be left for headlines. The turnaround for this project was really short, and with that considered, I'm pretty happy with the piece. It's very different from the stuff I usually do.
So if you're in Ohio, Pennsylvania or New York, go out and pick up one of these bad-boys. If they sell enough, maybe I'll get to do this sort of thing again.
My original artwork before it was spruced up by the graphic designers:
Here are the original concepts for the piece:
I've also got my hands in a few other cookie jars right now, but the projects are still "hush-hush" so it'll be a while before they turn up here. Now, go out and enjoy some sunshine.
My friend Joe hooked me up with some work, so to return the favor, I promised I'd do some doodles for his band "Bang Pop!" I'd try to explain what type of music they perform, but I feel like their official description does a better job than I ever could:"
It's exactly what most of us did when we were 16 years old, but now we're like 25 years old doing it.. So its way cooler? We create music from the sewage sounds of punk rock to RAP that will leave exit wounds all up in your dome.
Not gunna lie. Probably 95% of the lyrics are going to be written with booze. Because that's how the flow gets spit. ...I don't write the rules. We never make rules. ..But the booze stays.
We sing about the easy targets like Bro-Montanas and kids who do air dusters! But we also have a very large heart for the things that matter in life... Like eating good food for cheap and amateur strippers. Or both combined at a nicely priced $10.99 strip buffet that offers a fair range of morning fruit, to which would then play out as an adequate brunch if one chose to bring the family along as a last minute meal decision."
Another Sketch-2-Death thing. I'm not sure why I drew him with such a small body...
Wolvie simply wishes he could be as cool as Gambit. Doesn't everyone?
Here are some really early concepts for a Bigfoot image for a snow shovel company. Unfortunately, the project has since gone belly-up and now these lil blue guys serve as a silent reminder of what could have been.
Some call it "Bean Bag Toss" while others call it "Cornhole," but the name really isn't important. What is important is that this is one of the few, oh-so-perfect sports that allows you to stand in one place and play while drinking a beer. It's almost as great as Bocce (which is clearly the greatest summer game, ever).
Anyway, a few months ago I dug these old toss boxes out of our shed and wanted to fix them up. I soon found out that my aunt and uncle were organizing a beach party for my little cousins, so I dressed these bad boys up like tiki heads and slapped them down on the shores of Lake Erie. With these, a limbo contest, hula hoops, box hockey, potted palm trees, tiki torches, fire roasted chicken with corn and one awesome sound system, I think it's pretty safe to say the party was a success.
Hello, all! Summer is winding down which means sleepless nights due to insane heat will soon be replaced by sleepless nights due to insane work. I hope you've all gotten your fill of beaches, hammocks and mojitos (but I think we can all agree, enough is never enough).
Here are the original concepts for the piece:
I've also got my hands in a few other cookie jars right now, but the projects are still "hush-hush" so it'll be a while before they turn up here. Now, go out and enjoy some sunshine.
